Syrian President Hafiz al Assad
Courtesy Embassy of Syria

A panoramic view of the Al Mazzah district of Damascus the presidential palace is to the right of the divided highway

A busy street in Damascus

In early 1987, Syria remained under the effective control of the Assad regime. The country's stability contrasted sharply with the instability of earlier years, which had been punctuated by coups and countercoups and a bewildering succession of cabinets (see Coups and Countercoups, 1961-70 , ch. 1).

Data as of April 1987